KEENE, N.H. – The Keene State College women's lacrosse team scored 10 goals in the second quarter as the Owls beat Eastern Connecticut State University 19-6 Saturday at the Owl Athletic Complex in the first Little East Conference game of the season for both teams. The 10 goals the Owls scored in the second quarter are the most the team has scored in a frame since the NCAA changed the format for women's lacrosse games from two 30-minute halves to four 15-minute quarters before the start of the 2022 season.
Records
- Keene State: 2-7, 1-0 LEC
- Eastern Connecticut State: 2-5, 0-1 LEC
Postgame Interview (Coach Wyant)
Postgame Interview (Mindy St. Marie)
How it Happened
A minute apart from each other, senior midfielder
Mindy St. Marie and sophomore attacker
Chase Gengras scored at 12:48 and 11:48 respectively in the first quarter to give the Owls a 2-0 lead. First year attacker Sydney Goyette brought the Warriors back in the game with a goal with 2:21 remaining in the frame. Keene State would take a 2-1 lead into the second quarter. That's when the KSC offense picked up the pace.
The Owls began the quarter by scoring five unanswered goals. The first two came from freshman midfielder
Tess Brown and St. Marie just 26 seconds apart from each other at 13:50 and 13:24. Junior attacker
Hannah Dworkin, who assisted on Gengras' goal back in the first quarter, scored her first goal of the day to make it 5-1 Keene State at 11:38. Senior attacker
Jackie DeAngelis then scored at 10:29, with Brown getting her second goal of the game at 9:14.
Eastern Connecticut State would get goals from first year midfielder Alexa Vizzini and Goyette to cut the Keene State lead to 7-3 with 5:52 remaining. After that, Keene State kept its scoring attack going with goals from Gengras, Dworkin, St. Marie and Brown to extend the Owls' lead to 11-3. Then, arguably the biggest highlight of the game came with time winding down in the first half.
With around five seconds remaining in the quarter, Dworkin lost the ball in the restraining box. After picking it back up with her stick, she sent a pass to Gengras, who fired her shot into the back of the net just as the horn sounded. The goal would count, as Keene State took a 12-3 lead into halftime.
Gengras continued the scoring for the Owls in the third quarter. With KSC up a player, the West Hartford, Conn., native scored her fourth goal of the game at 9:01. Keene, N.H., native
Kristin Leslie would then score her first goal of the game, with Brown scoring after her. Keene State ended the quarter up 15-3, shutting out Eastern Connecticut State in the frame.
In the final quarter, senior midfielder
Haile Ratajack, Keene State's leading scorer, got involved by scoring two goals. St. Marie and Leslie each scored an additional goal, as the Owls picked up their second win of the season.
Inside the Crease
- Keene State has won its last six games against Eastern Connecticut State dating back to 2019.
- The last time the Owls scored at least 10 goals in a frame was in the LEC Tournament Quarterfinals against Eastern Connecticut State on April 27, 2021, when KSC scored 12 goals in the second half in a 23-12 win against the Warriors.
- Dworkin finished the game with eight points (two goals and six assists) in the win, the most by a Keene State player this season. Her six assists were also the most by a Keene State player so far this year.
- The Owls set team-highs for the season in goals (19) and assists (12).
Up Next
Keene State will travel up the road to take on New England College in Henniker, N.H., on Thursday, April 6 at 4 p.m. Eastern Connecticut State will return home to host Framingham State University on Wednesday, April 5 at 4 p.m.
